I've just arrived home from the exclusive media launch of the all-new Samsung Galaxy A50 in the Philippines, which was held this evening - March 13, 2019 - at Green Sun Axon in Makati City.

Gorgeous and feature-packed, this fresh release represents the Korean Giant's bold attempt at reclaiming the midrange smartphone category, which has been taken over by Chinese brands like OPPO, Vivo, and Huawei over the past three years.

Having played with the smartphone, I'd say that it obviously has several qualities that are reminiscent of what we have already seen on recent devices by Samsung's above-mentioned rivals. Nonetheless, the A50 definitely has unique charms and identifying characteristics.

For instance, while the massive 6.4-inch FullHD+ SuperAMOLED screen of the Galaxy A50 has a small notch that makes it look like the Vivo V11 or OPPO F9 at face value, I have to note that this U-shaped notch design looks different from the Waterdrop or Halo notch renditions of those two companies.

Additionally, although the high-gloss back panel of the Galaxy A50 as well as the placement of its rear cameras reminded me of some Vivo and Huawei handsets from a few months back, the way that the lenses are framed is exactly like that of Samsung Galaxy A7 2018, which is a reminder that technically this design is still unique to Korean Giant.

According to Samsung, one of the highlights of this model is its In-Display Fingerprint Scanner, which remains to be premium feature on mid-level smartphones these days.

Although it's not quite as snappy as that of Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+, this sensor makes it more convenient to unlock the device when it is placed on top of a table. No need to flip it to access a rear-mounted finger scanner.

Another key selling point is the A50's Triple Rear Camera module that's made up of a 25 MegaPixel primary shooter with standard field of view and f/1.7 aperture for enhanced low light performance, a secondary 8 MegaPixel cam with Ultra-Wide lens which makes it ideal for capturing group photos and landscape shots, and a tertiary 5 MegaPixel Depth Sensor that enables Live Focus mode for adding luscious Bokeh Effect to portrait or food shots.

Despite measuring only 7.7-millimeters at its thickest point, Samsung Galaxy A50 is actually powered by a large 4,000 mAh Li-Po battery pack that ensures all-day uptime with regular use.

If you hate always charging your aging smartphone to an electrical outlet at work come lunchtime or carrying a heavy powerbank in your bag just to make sure that your handset would have enough juice to last until evening, then perhaps you should consider upgrading to this release.

Under the hood, Galaxy A50 runs its One UI skinned Android 9.0 Pie operating system with a powerful yet energy efficient 10nm Exynos 9610 Octa chipset incorporating a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU that allows the device to run resource intensive games and apps smoothly. If you love playing Mobile Legends Bang Bang like I do, this smartphone runs that title with no hiccups whatsoever. I've tried it.

This more than capable processor is complemented by 6GB of RAM for smooth multitasking and a sizable 128GB of internal storage for all of your photos, videos, movies, and other large files. Additionally, what's great is that this phone has a dedicated microSD card slot for beefing up storage -- so you won't have to sacrifice Dual SIM capability just to get more space.

One thing that sets the Galaxy A50 apart from many of its competitors in the midrange echelon is that it already has a USB Type C port, which enables faster charging and data transfer. I think this should become a standard on mid-level Android smartphones moving forward.

But here's the best part: Samsung Galaxy A50 dons an official suggested retail price of only PHP 17,990, making it a very attractive offer for entry-level mobile phone users who are now planning to upgrade to a more feature-rich midrange model without breaking the bank or spending too much money on a new device.

Samsung Galaxy A50 along with the more affordable and slightly less powerful Samsung Galaxy A30 will hit store shelves nationwide starting on March 30, 2019. Let me get back to you on all the freebies that you can get when you pre-order your unit. I heard it's a lot!